1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric-wire processing machine such as a double end terminal crimping device provided with an electric-wire nozzle unit to which an electric wire is guided and inserted, and more particularly concerns an electric-wire processing machine which eliminates the necessity of exchanging the electric-wire nozzle unit depending on diameters of electric wires to be processed.
2. Description of the Background Art
With respect to the double end terminal crimping device, conventionally, for example, those having a structure which has an electric-wire guide unit that guides an electric wire supplied along a predetermined electric-wire supplying direction, a clamping device that is placed on the downstream side of the electric-wire guide unit in the electric-wire supplying direction and has an air cylinder or the like that releasably clamps an electric wire, and a nozzle which is placed on the downstream side of the clamping device in the electric-wire supplying direction and through which an electric wire is guided and inserted (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-123947).
Further, an electric wire that is fed by a predetermined length along the electric-wire supplying direction by a length-measuring unit is clamped by the clamping device, and in this state, the electric wire protruding from the nozzle is cut by a cutter unit and the coated portion of the electric wire end is subjected to a coat-removing process.
Then, the electric wire, clamped by the clamping device, is shifted to a terminal crimping unit position, and a terminal is crimped onto the coat-removed portion by the terminal crimping unit. After the terminal crimping process, the electric wire, clamped by the clamping device, is returned to an initial position that faces the cutter unit.
Thereafter, the electric wire that has been fed out is received by an electric-wire transporting unit, and in the same manner as described above, a terminal is crimped onto the other end of the electric wire by another terminal crimping unit.
Here, when the electric wire to be processed is changed to another electric wire having a different electric-wire diameter, the nozzle is exchanged to another nozzle having a nozzle opening that is suitable for the corresponding electric-wire diameter, in order to suppress pulsating movements of the electric wire that occur upon feeding the electric wire so as to stabilize the electric-wire supplying direction.
In the double end terminal crimping device having the conventional structure, however, upon step-exchanging process, it is necessary to exchange nozzles to a proper nozzle corresponding to the electric-wire diameter each time the electric-wire diameter is changed, and the resulting problem is that the step-exchanging process takes long time.
Moreover, it is also necessary to prepare and maintain nozzles of various sizes corresponding to electric-wire diameters for use in part-exchanging.